


Second Chances

by magicsophicorn



Category: Primeval
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-04-20
Updated: 2009-04-20
Packaged: 2018-02-25 09:27:29
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,346
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2616842
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/magicsophicorn/pseuds/magicsophicorn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sometimes life gives you a second chance at love.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Second Chances

Today was the day that Sarah Page’s life was turned well and truly upside down, and surprisingly, not entirely due to the most glaringly obvious reason.  
  
Like all earth shattering days tend to, it started off completely normally. Sarah went to work, as usual, and was sent to be a guide for a primary school group, realising a little bit too late that they couldn’t cope with quite the same level of gory detail that the secondary school kids seemed to enjoy. Well what the hell did she know about kids anyway? She almost said to them "oh don’t look at me like that! No one’s going to mummify  _you_. They’ll just give you an autopsy, which is much worse. But hey it won’t matter because you’ll be dead!" But she realised that might make things worse and managed to keep her mouth shut.

Sarah hated this part of her job; she really was not good with kids. She tended to treat them like little adults, which never seemed to work. She only put up with it for the access it gave her to study all the Egyptian artefacts. It could never compare to going out on a dig of course, there was nothing like that feeling: the thrill of discovering something new, the wonder of learning just a little bit more about the past. Sadly Sarah was just too young and inexperienced and to get funding for her own digs, at least that’s what the board of directors always told her. She had a sneaking suspicion however that it had more to do with the fact that she was a woman - although she could never prove it of course. She had tried being an assistant on other researchers’ digs but it always ended the same way. The inevitably balding, eccentric old archaeologist would come on to her, she would politely decline and then mysteriously be called back home a few days later by the board. It was just so very unfair. What Sarah wouldn’t give for some excitement in her job, to feel useful, needed, to actually be able to  _use_  the ridiculous sum of knowledge she had spent so many years acquiring. You’d think that was why she took the job at the ARC after that crazy day, but you’d only be half right.   
  
Sarah was surprised by how easily her brain adapted and made room for this whole new wealth of information, pushing aside all her previous knowledge of time and physics, slotting in as though her brain had long ago prepared a place for it.

Anomalies. Dinosaurs. Government cover-up.

It should have been the most life-changing, earth-shattering discovery of her life… but it wasn’t. That came a few moments later when she stopped freaking out and took a good look at the odd collection of people so casually up-heaving her world as though they did this every day. That was when Sarah saw  _her_.  
  
Sarah had never believed in love at first sight before this moment, hell if she was honest she’d never even  _really_  believed in love at all before this moment. But the second she saw her she knew. She knew her life, her world, would never be the same again. This woman was the single most beautiful thing Sarah had ever seen in her life, more beautiful than anything her beloved Egypt had ever shown her. She wanted to know everything about her. She could see that she was smart and confident and brave and a million other things as well. Sarah wanted to laugh, she felt like a hundred clichés had all suddenly come true. She felt more alive than she ever had before, and not just because of the adrenaline of coming face to face with a dinosaur.   
  
So when Cutter asked her to join the team, she thought only of the beautiful redhead as she said yes.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"What do you think about Cutter?" – The question interrupted Sarah’s train of thought about the earliest record of the mythical Chinese water dragon, which was apparently most probably a dinosaur. Sometimes Sarah thought she’d never get used to this job. Sarah looked up at Jenny, a slight fear of just where this conversation might go settled in the pit of her stomach.  
  
"Erm, Cutter, I think he’s, erm, a great guy." She replied, trying her best to be non committal. Jenny merely nodded, her expression slightly sad.  
  
"Oh you mean, what do I  _think_  of Cutter…" Sarah ploughed on, her desire to talk to Jenny overpowering her discomfort over the subject matter. "I think that he’s pretty hot in an emotionally toxic, don’t come near me, I’m a romantic disaster kind of way."  _And so totally not good enough for you_ , she tried very hard not to add at the end.  
  
"Just my type" Jenny muttered with a bitter little laugh.  
  
"Is there something going on between you two?" Sarah asked hesitantly, knowing that she probably wasn’t going to like the answer.  
  
She listened intently while Jenny explained all about her feelings for Cutter and her confusion over Claudia. Sarah didn’t really understand the bit about Claudia, how it was even possible for a person to cease to exist and yet exist as a different version of themselves. At least it explained why Cutter sometimes called Jenny Claudia when he wasn’t paying attention, or why Sarah often caught him staring at Jenny with such sadness in his eyes. Sarah didn’t really know what to say about it all, or even what to think. It was one thing to be in love with your colleague who was in love with someone else, but this whole situation was just beyond belief. Sarah made her excuses and left the room, she just needed to be alone after that particular heart crushing conversation. She was absolutely certain that today could not possibly get any worse.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Two weeks after the explosion, and the ARC was finally beginning to look like it used to, if you ignored all the building work and plastic sheets of course. Sarah walked into the remains of her work and saw Connor hunched over a strange artefact, lost in his own thoughts, obviously not achieving anything.  
  
"Look why don’t you let me clean that up, see what’s underneath?" Sarah offered. Connor nodded, gave some sort of cryptic warning about not telling anyone about the artefact, and left in a hurry, fighting back tears. Sarah sighed, she worried that the others might resent her for her lack of grief over Cutter. Of course she was sad that he’d died, he was her colleague and she had respected him a lot. However that’s all he was to her, a colleague, having only known him a couple of months she hadn’t built the same bond with him that all the others had after spending years together, saving each others lives from dinosaurs and god knows what else every week.  
  
"Do you think you’ll be able to rebuild it?" Sarah was so absorbed in her own thoughts she hadn’t even heard Jenny come in.

"Maybe in a few years, I just don’t have the knowledge right now."

Jenny turned her back to Sarah and stared at the wreckage of Cutter’s anomaly timeline model. Sarah had never seen her look so small and weak and tired, she was always so confident. Now she just looked like a lost child. Sarah wanted nothing more than to wrap her arms around Jenny and kiss away all her pain. It broke her heart that she couldn’t do anything to help, so she did the only thing she could think of and said, “If you ever need to talk, or anything… I’m here for you.”  
Once again, Jenny merely nodded.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Later that evening Sarah was curled up on her sofa reading, when she was rudely interrupted by the sound of her doorbell. She sighed and stood up to go answer it, noticing as she did so that is was 12.30. Suddenly she felt uneasy. Oh god, what if it was Helen? At least this time Sarah would recognise her, she still mentally kicked herself whenever she thought about how easily she had let Helen pick-pocket her security pass. Although now that she thought about it, Helen was either stealthy or violent, and since stealth was now out of the question that only left the not so pleasant prospect of violence. Sarah frantically looked around her living room for something she could use to defend herself. The doorbell rang again, Sarah stopped her search at the sound, realising that doorbells were probably a bit too subtle for Helen who was much more likely to just go ahead and blow the door up. Sarah ran to open the door mentally warning whoever was on the other side that this better bloody well be important to have scared her like that. She flung open the door, still half expecting to see Helen thrust a gun in her face, but what she got instead was almost as much of a shock.  
  
“Jenny?” Sarah tried to hide the surprise in her voice but wasn’t sure she managed it very well. Jenny looked her up and down, her expression unreadable. Sarah was suddenly aware of just how slobby she must look, with her old sweats on and her hair loosely plaited, especially since Jenny was as immaculately turned out as ever.  
  
“Sorry, come in. Err, would you like a cup of tea?”

Jenny walked into the hallway but didn’t say anything. Sarah closed the door behind her and turned to face her, feeling increasingly more uncomfortable with every second of silence. When she couldn’t stand it any longer she took a step towards Jenny, touching her lightly on the arm and asked as softly as she could, “Jenny, are you okay?”  
  
Jenny looked up at her and immediately burst into tears. Sarah acted without thinking; she scooped Jenny into her arms and started stroking her hair. She knew she should focus, but she couldn’t help marvelling at how soft Jenny’s hair was, how warm her breath felt against her shoulder and how perfectly their bodies fit together. Sarah lost track of how long they stayed like that, Jenny quietly sobbing into her shoulder, Sarah stroking her hair and whispering comforting noises into her ear. After what felt to Sarah like an eternity and the blink of an eye all at once Jenny stopped crying and pulled away from her. Sarah almost cried out at the loss of contact, and again when big, beautiful tear stained eyes looked up at her.  
  
“I’m sorry… I… Didn’t know where else to go…” Jenny finally whispered.

“Don’t worry, it’s fine, I said I would be here for you, and I am.” Sarah replied, wiping Jenny’s tears away with her thumbs. “Look it’s really late, why don’t I fix up a bed for you and you can stay here tonight?” Jenny nodded and so Sarah went to get everything ready for her.  
  
As Sarah was leaving after showing Jenny to her room she heard her whisper a trembling “thank you”. Sarah smiled and closed the door behind her. She sighed as she walked back to her room. She knew there was nothing she could do to ease Jenny’s grief but she decided right then and there that she was going to be there for her in whatever way she could, even if only as a shoulder to cry on, and however much she might get hurt in the process.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jenny could see the surprise in Sarah’s face as she opened her front door. In all honesty Jenny was just as surprised to find herself there as Sarah was. Sure, Jenny had looked up Sarah’s address in the ARC security database before leaving work, but she had never actually planned to  _go_  there. It was sort of like a comfort blanket, just knowing where to find at least one comforting face, if things were really that bad. Jenny hadn’t realised that that things really were that bad. She had gone home after work and made herself some dinner, but she felt sick just looking at it, so she didn’t eat it. She wandered around her flat, and then decided to clean it from top to bottom. When she’d finished she decided to go for a walk, she knew it was late but she didn’t want to go to sleep, she knew what she’d see, who she’d see.

And then just like that Sarah was opening her front door to her, without Jenny even having noticed that she’d walked there in the dark and cold across half of London.

“Sorry, come in. Err, would you like a cup of tea?”

Jenny entered the hallway, she felt numb all over and her brain felt as though it had shut down and permanently left the building. She though she should probably say something, but she didn’t really know what. Then she felt Sarah touch her lightly on the arm and heard her say “Jenny, are you okay?”  
  
Jenny looked up into wide chocolate brown eyes and was surprised by the genuine concern she saw there. As she realised this, it was as though something in her broke and she couldn’t help but burst into tears. She cried for Cutter, she cried for all the others, but mostly she cried for herself. There’s something about the death of a loved one that can’t help but make those left behind just a little bit unintentionally selfish. Jenny cried for what she had lost, for what she had dreamed of that now would never be, and for what she feared her life would now become.  
  
Eventually Jenny felt her tears run out, and she realised that Sarah had been holding her all this time. She pulled away and looked once again into those deep brown eyes. She couldn’t explain it but she saw something there that made her feel, if only for a fleeting second, that things weren’t so bad after all.  
  
“I’m sorry… I… Didn’t know where else to go…” Jenny finally whispered, gaining control of her brain once more. She knew she should go home, but she was just so very tired. She’d spent all day running around after (although mostly away from) a giganta-fucking-saurus, trying to deal not only with it, but also with those bloody reporters and that pain in the arse Danny, and now she’d gone and spent half the night crying. She really, really needed to sleep.  
  
“Don’t worry, it’s fine, I said I would be here for you, and I am.” Sarah said, wiping away her tears with her thumbs. A warm wave of… something, washed over Jenny, quickly followed by a pang of guilt for turning up unannounced in the middle of the night and breaking down in the hallway. Jenny was glad Sarah didn’t think to ask how she had known where she lived, she really didn’t want to admit that she’d looked the address up, just in case.  
  
“Look it’s really late, why don’t I fix up a bed for you and you can stay here tonight?”

Jenny nodded, too relieved and tired to say anything, and Sarah disappeared off down the hall. Jenny looked around Sarah’s flat, it was full of old distressed wood furniture, and she had more books than your average library. Jenny smiled; the place had a feeling of being completely… Sarah. Although Jenny realised, yawning sleepily, that she didn’t really know Sarah all that well, and she’d have to do something about that.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sarah moaned and arched her back as Jenny’s tongue swirled around her nipple. God it felt  _so_  good, and she had wanted it for so very long. Jenny began moving down Sarah’s torso, placing light kisses as she went. Inches away from where Sarah wanted her most of all Jenny stopped and looked up. “What’s that noise?” she asked.  
  
Noise? What noise? A brass band could be playing in the room for all Sarah would have noticed at that particular moment. Sarah forced herself to concentrate. “Oh it’s just my alarm clock, ignore it,” she urged.  
  
“Oh, well that means it’s time for me to go.”  
  
“What? No! Why?”  
  
“Because that means it’s time for you to wake up” Jenny said with a sad little smile as she leaned down and kissed Sarah on the forehead.  
  
When Sarah opened her eyes she was alone.  
  
Fuck, fuck! FUCKITY  **FUCK!**  Sarah threw the alarm clock across the room and slammed a pillow over her head. Of all the horrifically inappropriate times to have a sex dream about your colleague she had to go and have one whilst the object of her affections was in _the_   _room next door_  grieving over the death of the man she loved. Fucking perfect.   
  
Sarah sent a quick prayer to every Egyptian god and goddess she could think of that she hadn’t made too much noise, or even worse, cried Jenny’s name or something. That would just be so very beyond awkward. Sarah groaned and hauled herself out of bed in dire need of a cold shower. Today was going to be one of those days, she just knew it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Jenny? Umm, would you like some breakfast? I could make pancakes… Or… Something.” Sarah leant on the door frame waiting for some sign of life from the room beyond. “Jenny?” 

Sarah became increasingly more nervous as the silence stretched on. She tentatively turned the handle and peeked into the room. The bed was made, the curtains were open and there was no sign of Jenny. Sarah blinked a few times. When had Jenny left? Well, she must have gone home to change, of course she wouldn’t want to go to work today wearing the same clothes as yesterday, Sarah rationalised. She couldn’t deny that it stung a little bit that Jenny hadn’t said goodbye though. Although if she had left early then maybe she just hadn’t wanted to wake her. Yeah, that must be it. Though that thought didn’t stop Sarah worrying about Jenny as she got ready for work.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Watching her that morning at work, Sarah had to hand it to her that Jenny had one hell of a game face. You would never guess that last night she had broken down in an emotional mess in her hallway. In fact, Sarah was beginning to wonder if perhaps she had dreamt that part as well. 

Of course, having to deal with Danny “the ego” Quinn might have something to do with it. She tried to catch Jenny’s eye several times, but got the distinct impression that she was being ignored. Sarah felt like she’d been slapped in the face. She understood that Jenny wouldn’t want the whole team to know about what had happened, but really, was a smile or a hello too much to ask for? No one was going to guess from that.   
  
Sarah bristled for a few minutes but found that she couldn’t bring herself to stay angry for very long. Mostly, she was just worried. Jenny may look for all the world like a calm professional but Sarah now knew what was going on beneath the surface, and if she refused to let Sarah in then there was nothing she could do to help her. Sarah wanted so badly to see Jenny happy again. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jenny felt badly for ignoring Sarah, she really did. She had been so kind to her and she appreciated everything she had done. But she just couldn’t be around her, not now, not at work. When she was around Sarah she felt all her emotional control slipping away, stripping her feelings bare, leaving her able to do nothing but fall into the warm comfort she knew would be offered to her. When Jenny looked into those chocolate brown eyes she saw a kindness and a compassion that took her breath away. No one had  _ever_  looked at her like that before, and Jenny found it impossible to maintain her emotional control under such a gaze. 

Which was why she ignored Sarah, even though it pained her to do so. They were at work, and Jenny was a professional. They were all grieving. Jenny had to be strong, for the team. She couldn’t afford to let go, to lose herself. Just because Cutter was gone that didn’t mean that anomalies would stop appearing, Danny Quinn would stop interfering, and Christine Johnston would stop… whatever the hell it was that she was up to.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sarah was lost deep in thought as she made her way to tell Conner her theory about the numbers on the artefact. As she passed an open door to one of the offices she noticed Jenny staring at something in her hand. Sarah hesitated. Jenny had made it pretty clear she didn’t want to speak to Sarah, but this might be Sarah’s only chance to catch Jenny alone and perhaps find out why that was. 

As she walked towards Jenny she noticed that what she was staring at was half of an old worn photo of herself. The expression on Jenny’s face erased all thoughts Sarah had of demanding to know why she was being ignoring. She looked so hurt. Sarah wanted to wrap her arms around Jenny, but instead she asked softly “When was that taken?”  
  
Jenny never took her eyes off the photo as she replied, her voice wavering, “It wasn’t. That’s not me. That’s Claudia Brown.”

Only then did she finally look at Sarah, her eyes shining with unshed tears, “Oh my God, Sarah, I used to be somebody else.” She looked as though she was going to say something else, but whatever it was never made it out as they were interrupted by Becker’s appearance in the doorway.

“Jenny, anomaly alert.”  
  
“I’ll cover it.” Sarah offered immediately, desperate to help Jenny in whatever small way she could.  
  
“No, no. I’m fine.” Jenny said forcefully, leaving the room quickly. Sarah sighed. She had hoped that Jenny would open up and let her in. No doubt all Jenny’s walls had just gone right back up and Sarah would be back to square one next time she saw her.   
  
Sarah picked up the photo Jenny had left behind. When she looked at it closely she could easily see that it wasn’t Jenny. It was like… Like an identical twin. They might look the same, but something in their eyes or their smile, or perhaps both, was different. Sarah still couldn’t wrap her head around the concept, even with all her new knowledge of time and anomalies something about it still just seemed so impossible. But that didn’t even matter. It had happened, that was that. All that mattered was Jenny.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“No pulse.”  
  
Sarah practically saw the words tumble out of Abby’s mouth and pool around Jenny’s cold lifeless face. She felt her own heart stop beating and then start again faster than she had ever felt it beat before. She could hear the blood rushing in her ears, could see everything with crystal clarity. But she couldn’t feel anything, couldn’t think, couldn’t move. She could only watch, separated from herself. She watched as Abby pumped air into unresponsive lungs. She watched as the shadows of former friends danced before Connor’s eyes one by one.  
  
“Not again. Please. Not again,” he whispered.   
  
“If she stays like this for another few minutes, we’ve lost her,” the desperation evident behind every one of Abby’s words.  
  
A voice in the back of Sarah’s head began screaming. _No. No. No, this couldn’t be happening. It isn’t supposed to be like this. The good guys aren’t supposed to die. Not like this._ The voice screamed, and cried, but still Sarah couldn’t move, couldn’t feel.  
  
“I’ve got a pulse.”  
  
Feelings rushed through Sarah’s body and she sank to the floor, her knees giving out. She didn’t even notice the tears of relief painting wet lines down her cheeks. Jenny was alive. She was still here. She was okay. Sarah repeated it over and over in her head, hardly daring to believe it could really be true. She hauled herself to her feet and heard Jenny telling Danny to let go of her hand. She was okay. She was really okay. Unable to stop herself she reached out and stroked Jenny’s forehead, needing the physical contact to anchor herself to reality, to truly believe that Jenny was alive and well. Jenny’s eyes met hers and Sarah knew that everything was going to be okay. Jenny was alive.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“You can’t leave,” Danny said.

Jenny sighed inwardly. “I have to.”  
  
“It’s your team.”  
  
He really didn’t understand at all, did he?  
  
“No, it was Cutter’s and now it’s yours. I don’t belong here any more.”  
  
“Of course you do.”  
  
How could he be so selfish? Of course it was sweet that he wanted her to stay but did he really not care about how that would affect her? Was he really that blind?  
  
“Danny, I died today. I think I should probably quit while I’m ahead.”  
  
“I know you. And I know all about Claudia Brown and I’m sure there’s some perfectly rational explanation.”  
  
How dare he? He didn’t know her at all. He’d created an idea of her, a perfect ideal Jenny that had nothing to do with who she really was. He knew nothing about her. Or Claudia for that matter.  
  
“Yeah, that’s what I used to think.”  
  
“Look, maybe we’ve all lived other lives, but what’s important is who we are now.”  
  
Jenny finally lost her temper. She couldn’t stand his self righteous crap any longer.  
  
“You’re absolutely right, and that’s exactly why I have to go,” she said, every word dripping with disdain.  
  
She knew she could never make him understand, but she had to try to explain anyway.  
  
“If I stay here I’ll always be looking back wondering who I really am. I just want to go and try to forget about the ARC and forget about the creatures and the anomalies. And most of all I really want to try to forget about Nick Cutter and Claudia Brown. You said it yourself, you only live once.”  
  
Danny looked pained. “You can try to forget him Jenny, but you never will.”  
  
Jenny shrugged. She had made her decision and nothing he could say would change that. She held out her hand to him.  
  
“Good luck.”  _You’re going to need it._  

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jenny stopped to take one last look around the place that had been such an important part of her life for the past couple of years. It hadn’t all been bad. It would be a shame to lose all the good memories. She wanted to hold on to Lester’s snarky comments, Connor’s giddy excitement and Abby’s boundless compassion. But in order to forget the bad she also had to forget the good. It was sad, but that was just the way it had to be.

Jenny allowed herself a small smile as she walked through the doors and out into the bright freedom of her future. This was it. She had done it. She would finally get a second chance at her life, a chance to be safe, to be happy.  
  
“Jenny!”  
  
She turned at the sound of her name and watched Sarah run towards her. She considered just getting in the car and driving off. If it had been Danny she would have. She didn’t want anyone else trying to convince her to stay. She knew nobody else could possibly understand what she was going through, how she was feeling.  
  
“Jenny, I…”  
  
Sarah never got to finish her sentence as Jenny interrupted, desperate not to have face another attempt to make her stay, especially not from Sarah. If Sarah tried to make her stay Jenny wasn’t entirely convinced she would be able to stick to her decision. There was just something about the woman that affected her deeply and she didn’t understand why.  
  
“No Sarah, look, you don’t understand. I wish you would all stop thinking about yourselves for just a second and try to understand. I have to leave, I can’t stay here. Every day I lose a bit more of myself.”   
  
Jenny tore her eyes away from Sarah. All she could see when she looked at her was Sarah’s tear-stained face looking down at her as she had lain on that table after fighting for her life, and it broke her heart.  
  
“You can’t even begin to imagine what this feels like. I don’t know who I am any more. Sometimes I don’t even know if I’m real. How can I be if I was just called into existence one day? All my life, my childhood, my memories are lies. They were just created the same day I was. God, I’m losing my mind!”  
  
Jenny put her head in hands. She could hear the desperation in her voice and she hated it. She hadn’t meant to say that much, but she needed to make Sarah understand that she had to do this, and that it was the only way.  
  
“I know who Jenny Lewis is,” Sarah whispered. “Let me tell you about her.”  
  
Jenny looked up at Sarah, unable to decipher the expression on her face.  
  
“She’s smart and resourceful and hard working. She’s loyal and caring and witty. She  _died_  today in order to protect her friends and country because she is brave and just and always does the right thing.” As she continued, Sarah got louder and louder and by the time she was finished she was practically shouting. “And I don’t care if it’s selfish, but I simply refuse to believe that such a wonderful person isn’t real!”  
  
Jenny stared at Sarah, her eyes wide. Sarah opened and shut her mouth a few times before making a small whimpering sound and running back towards the ARC. Jenny remained rooted to the spot. Was that really how the others saw her? Was that really how Sarah saw her? And why did the latter matter to her so much more than the former? Danny had said he ‘knew’ her too, and she had hated him for it. He was probably just trying to get into her knickers. But Sarah… When Sarah said it she really meant it. She hadn’t even tried to convince Jenny to stay. Why had she said those things? Jenny had never suffered with low self esteem, yet she certainly didn’t see herself in quite the spectacularly glowing light that Sarah seemed to. Jenny shook her head, as if by doing so she could shake out the confused jumble of thoughts. It didn’t matter what Danny thought, and it didn’t matter what Sarah thought. Jenny was leaving. She was moving on, dammit.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Oh hell no!”  
  
Jenny stared at the anomaly in front of her. This was really,  _really_ , very unfair. She had left the ARC just over three months ago and was really happy with her new life. She didn’t need, and definitely didn’t want, anomalies, creatures and the ARC stampeding back into it and ripping it to shreds, as they tended to do.  
  
In the beginning she hadn’t quite known what to do with herself and her newly-acquired free time, so she had gone on holiday, on an impulse, to Egypt. She had loved every second of it, and not just because of the sunshine. She found the pyramids and the tombs and the museums fascinating, she spent most of her holiday exploring them, and she found the presence of the artefacts somewhat comforting. She chose to ignore the little voice in the back of her head which questioned as to just why that might be.  
  
Once she returned she faced the daunting prospect of trying to find a new job. She was a little out of touch with the market after having worked at the ARC for so long and she worried about her prospects. However she was excited about all the new possibilities open to her and was determined to find something she really loved and was passionate about to do. After all, this was her second chance at life and she was determined not to waste it.   
  
Jenny had always been interested in a more creative life so she decided to look for arts-related jobs. After dismissing several unsuitable positions, including a particularly memorable interview for the role of PR for a very famous rock band which had culminated in being told she could have the job if she threw the hotel’s television out of the window or “flashed her knockers”, she eventually found the perfect job for her – PR for Sotheby’s Art Auctioneers.   
  
She didn’t doubt that there would be plenty of applicants who knew an awful lot more about art than her, but whilst she had said that she wanted a clean break from the ARC she was not above using the name of Sir James Lester to open doors for herself. It had worked, and she had now been working at Sotheby’s for just over two months. She was still thoroughly enjoying the job – it was interesting and exciting, but not in a run-for-your-life-or-be-eaten kind of way. Which was perfect.  
  
Jenny was surprised by how easily she had moved on and forgotten about the ARC, Nick Cutter and Claudia Brown. For the first month or so she had still found her nerves constantly on edge, always alert for possible danger, but as time had passed and her life became more normal she was able to relax. It wasn’t until three months later, staring at the flickering anomaly that had appeared in the middle of Sotheby’s art warehouse, that she realised that she couldn’t remember the last time she had thought about all of this.  
  
Jenny sighed, all her old memories flooding back. She didn’t really want to be here if something nasty should come through the anomaly, she had no desire to die again, thank you very much. But at the same time she knew that the team would need to know what, if anything, they were up against. Jenny walked to the wall at the far right of the anomaly and pressed the fire alarm button. At least that way the building would be empty if something dangerous should emerge. She then settled herself behind some of the large metal crates used to transport sculptures so that she could keep an eye on the anomaly and also hide if needs be. She hoped the team didn’t take too long in getting here because it wasn’t exactly comfortable behind these crates, and Jenny wanted to be involved in this whole thing as little as possible.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sarah knew she was fidgeting when even Connor began to glare at her. She was helpless to stop it, though – this was her first time out in the field with the team and she was just so damn excited. Danny glanced at her in the rear-view mirror.

“You know it’s okay to be scared, Sarah,” he said in what she was sure was his best fatherly tone.  
  
Sarah resisted the urge to snort. She wasn’t scared. She had no doubt that she would be when inevitably faced with something that wanted to eat her, but right now in the car on the way to wherever the latest anomaly had appeared, when everything was purely hypothetical, Sarah wasn’t scared in the slightest.  
  
The car screeched to a halt, throwing Sarah back against her seat. She scowled at the back of Danny’s head – there was no need to drive like a boy racer. The team got out of the car and Sarah was vaguely aware of Becker complaining about having to sit in the back and Connor trying to explain the importance of calling shotgun. Sarah gazed at the building in front of her, slightly disappointed. She had always imagined Sotheby’s would be a beautiful old building to match the beautiful art inside it. Instead it was a boring average red-brick building. Sarah hoped nothing big and destructive emerged from the anomaly, as it would be a tragedy if any art was destroyed.  
  
“Okay the anomaly’s this way, guys.” Connor led them into a large warehouse, through a maze of metal crates of various different sizes until eventually they saw the flickering lights of the anomaly.  
  
“Okay Connor, get the anomaly locking machine set up, the rest of us let’s split into teams and search the warehouse, just in case something came through before we got here.” Danny barked out orders, assigning teams.  
  
“You don’t need to worry, nothing’s come through yet.”   
  
The team looked round, shocked at the sound of an unexpected familiar voice.  
  
“Jenny!” Connor shouted, running and hugging her. Jenny laughed.  
  
“It’s good to see you too Connor… But you can let go now…”  
  
“Not that I’m not pleased to see you, but what exactly are you doing here?” Danny questioned.  
  
“I work here.” Jenny replied.  
  
“Great, well…” Danny never got to finish his sentence as a loud screeching sound interrupted him. The team turned back to the anomaly in time to see three small creatures emerge from the anomaly and shoot off into the warehouse. They were moving so quickly that nobody really had time to react until the creatures had already disappeared off into the maze of crates.  
  
“Okay guys let’s find those things and get them back through this anomaly. Sarah, Jenny, you go that way. Abby with me. Becker that way. Connor, you stay here and get ready to lock the anomaly,” Danny yelled, already running off in the direction one of the creatures had gone.  
  
Sarah glanced at Jenny, expecting her to refuse point-blank to get involved. After all she had every right to, she had left, she didn’t have to do this any more. Sarah was quite relieved when Jenny didn’t say anything, just started trotting off in her stupidly high heels in the direction Danny had pointed. After all, she was the only one who might actually know her way round this massive maze of crates. Sarah hadn’t realised she wasn’t moving, just stood admiring the view, until Jenny turned around.  
  
“Well, are you coming?”  
  
“Yeah, sorry.” Sarah shook her head and ran to catch up with Jenny.  
  
They wandered around for a few minutes and Sarah found the silence a little disconcerting. This place must really be huge as they couldn’t even hear the others. Suddenly Jenny grabbed her arm.  
  
“Look!”  
  
There ahead of them was one of the creatures. They approached slowly, hoping to herd it back towards the anomaly. As they got closer it spotted them and screeched, showing a row of, admittedly small, but dangerous nonetheless, teeth.  
  
“Shit!” Sarah hissed.  
  
Everything had happened so fast and the creatures were so small that they hadn’t considered the possibility that they might be dangerous. The creature started to walk towards them and Jenny and Sarah looked at each other. No words were necessary and both women started running full pelt back towards the anomaly. Sarah looked back over her shoulder. Shit this thing was  _fast_. They weren’t going to make it at this rate. Sarah spotted one of the metal crates ahead was open. That thing’s teeth might be sharp but they weren’t very big and the crate was made of metal. It was probably their best bet since they couldn’t outrun this thing.  
  
“Jenny, the crate. Get in!” Sarah yelled pointing.  
  
Jenny jumped in first and Sarah tumbled in not even seconds afterwards, pulling the lid shut behind her. There was a loud bang as the creature slammed against the crate trying to get in. Then another. Then another. Then silence. Sarah hardly dared breathe, hoping the creature couldn’t get in and so would go away. After a few minutes of silence Sarah decided it was probably safe to get out. She reached up in the pitch black inside the crate and pushed hard against the lid. Only it didn’t budge. She was lying on her side and so couldn’t get her other arm out from under herself to push with both hands. She suddenly realised then that the crate was a lot smaller than she had thought, and she and Jenny were both on their sides pressed up against each other. In the absence of any light, all Sarah’s other senses were heightened and she became incredibly aware of the feel of Jenny’s breath tickling her neck, the feel of Jenny’s breasts pushed up against her own, and the fact that her thigh was between Jenny’s legs.  _Oh shit_. Jenny’s perfume invaded her nose and Sarah had to fight to keep from whimpering. This was going to be the most exquisite torture.  
  
“Jenny,” Sarah’s voice came out as nothing but a hoarse whisper. “I can’t get the lid open.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Shit, shit, shit! She was so stupid! Why hadn’t she remembered _before_ they had locked themselves in a crate the size of your average coffin?

“The crates… They automatically lock when shut. The only way to open them is the combination lock on the outside. It’s for security, to protect the art,” Jenny explained.  
  
She heard Sarah’s breath hitch. “So we’re stuck in here?”  
  
“Yes,” Jenny whispered.  
  
Jenny could feel the heat radiating from Sarah’s body, especially from her chest pressed against hers, and her thigh pressed up in between her legs. As she thought about this Jenny felt a furious throbbing begin between her legs.  
  
Oh.

_Oh!_

Okay, that actually explained quite a lot. How had Jenny not realised that she was attracted to Sarah before now? And could there possibly be a worst time and place to have this particular epiphany than tangled together in a very small, very dark, enclosed space?  
  
Jenny screwed her eyes shut and tried desperately to think about something else to lessen her arousal. She heard a buzzing sound then felt Sarah’s thigh twitch against her, sending spikes of pleasure through Jenny’s body. Then there was a bang as something hit the crate. Jenny couldn’t work out what was happening.  
  
“Jenny, that’s my phone, it might be one of the team, they can come and let us out… But… The crate’s too small, I can’t bend my arm enough to get my phone out of my pocket… Umm… Could you…” Sarah’s voice was barely a whisper.  
  
Jenny gulped. It was pitch black, she had no idea of where Sarah’s pocket was. She reached out tentatively and her fingers connected with Sarah’s thigh. Not wanting to risk touching anywhere else by accident, Jenny ran her hand up Sarah’s thigh, enjoying the feel of toned muscle. Her hand was moving so slowly, it was completely inappropriate, but she was powerless to make it move any faster, it was like it had a mind of its own. When she reached the pocket of too-tight jeans, Jenny could have sworn she heard Sarah gasp as she had slid her hand inside and grabbed the phone. By now the throbbing between Jenny’s legs was so intense that she wouldn’t be surprised if Sarah could feel it against her thigh. Jenny pulled the phone out and lifted it to her ear answering the call.  
  
“Sarah, where are you?” It was Connor.  
  
“Connor! Sarah and I are…”  
  
“Jenny?” Connor interrupted, sounding confused.  
  
“Yes, well done. Now listen to me! Sarah and I are trapped in a crate and we need someone to come and enter the combination to let us out.”  
  
“But none of us know the combination!” he squeaked.  
  
“Yes, but I do,” Jenny replied through gritted teeth. “We’re by aisle 34 on the left-hand side. When you get here shout, and we’ll bang on the crate so you know which one we’re in. The combination will be six zeros because the crate isn’t in use so it’ll just be the default number. Now hurry up, my arm is going dead.”  
  
Jenny hung up. God, if Connor took his sweet time getting them out he was going to be in an awful lot of trouble.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After what felt like hours Jenny heard Connor’s voice and she and Sarah began banging on the sides of the crate and shouting. A few minutes later and they were blinded by bright light as the lid was opened.

Jenny opened her eyes and watched Connor’s face go through an impressive range of emotions. He started off confused, and then went to concern, which rapidly changed to lecherous and ended up at complete and utter embarrassment. Jenny couldn’t help but smirk at him. Connor had brought Becker with him and, unsurprisingly, at the sight of two women with limbs entwined, his expression started at lecherous and stayed there.  
  
Sarah hauled herself to her feet and in doing so her thigh, the one between Jenny’s legs, pushed up sharply into Jenny’s crotch. The sudden unexpected pressure on top of her already heightened state of arousal was too much for her body and Jenny was unable to stifle a cry as she came, in full view of everyone.  
  
When she opened her eyes Becker, Connor and Sarah were staring down at her.  
  
“Jenny! Are you okay? Are you hurt?” Connor asked.  
  
God bless him for being so innocent. She glanced at Becker, the smirk plastered on his face telling her that he most certainly was not so naïve.  
  
“Um… Did you just?” Sarah trailed off, looking at the floor, her cheeks flushed. Apparently she wasn’t all that innocent either.  
  
“No!”  _Yes._ She gave Becker a death glare and would have given one to Sarah too if she wasn’t resolutely looking at her feet  
  
“Did she what? I don’t understand guys.” Connor looked bewildered.  
  
“Don’t worry mate. I’ll tell you when you’re older,” Becker said slapping him on the back.  
  
“I have to get back to work,” Jenny mumbled and ran off towards the nearest exit, hoping that no one followed her. God, that was so unbelievably embarrassing.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Jenny practically ran back to her office and slammed the door behind her. She sat down at her desk but then decided that dinosaurs and public orgasms definitely counted as sufficient grounds for an afternoon off.  
  
Five minutes later, sat in her car, Jenny realised she wasn’t quite yet in a fit state to drive. She took some deep calming breaths and tried to think logically about what had happened.  
  
She was attracted to Sarah. It made a lot of sense. That was why she had never been completely in control of her emotions around the other woman, why she had allowed herself to go to Sarah’s house that time seeking comfort.  
  
So now what? Well, she had two choices. She could go home and try to forget about Sarah, just like she had tried to forget about the ARC and Cutter. Or she could go to Sarah’s and see where this might lead. She had left the ARC to try to make the most of her life, to be happy. And honestly? She had never in all her life felt as alive as she had whilst pressed up against Sarah.  
  
Jenny had missed too many chances already in her life. She started the engine. She wasn’t going to miss this one.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 _The artefact appears to Jenny respond to calibrated Jenny beams of Jenny infrared Jenny…_  
  
“Oh bollocks!”  
  
Sarah threw down her pen in frustration, having just noticed that she had accidentally written the subject of her thoughts rather more often than was strictly necessary for a progress report on the artefact. Sarah scrunched the piece of paper into a ball and tossed it into the bin. She knew she would never hear the end of it if she handed that in.  
  
Sarah glanced at her watch, 3:45. That meant it was precisely two hours and twenty seven minutes since she had first seen Jenny again, and exactly one hour and thirty nine minutes since they had been forced to get  _very_  up close and personal and Jenny had… Sarah swallowed hard, replaying in her mind the little noise Jenny had made, the way she arched her back, the look on her face… Sarah hadn’t been able to stop going over it since it happened, and she wasn’t sure she would ever be able to think about anything else ever again. God, Jenny was so beautiful.  
  
Before today Sarah had never even considered the possibility that Jenny might be attracted to her too. But now… now there was the faintest glimmer of hope. After all, people didn’t just have orgasms for no reason. Although if they did then they were very lucky indeed… But that wasn’t the point. The point was it still didn’t matter how Jenny felt about her because she still wasn’t going to see her again. Although now she knew where she worked… But that was probably considered stalking. Dammit! This was getting ridiculous. Sarah hadn’t felt this distracted by a girl since she was at school.  
  
Sarah sighed as she gathered up her belongings and headed for the door. There was no way she was going to get any more work done today so she might as well just go home and give in to the inevitable.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sarah’s heart leapt at the sound of her doorbell even though logically she knew it was very unlikely to be who she so desperately hoped it was. Sighing, she rose to answer it, hoping fervently that whoever it was wouldn’t want to stay very long. She wasn’t really in the mood for company. She still couldn’t concentrate on anything other than her memories and related fantasies, and really didn’t want to blurt out anything embarrassing in front of an unwitting house guest. 

Sarah flung open the front door and barely had time to even register that … Holy Shit, it actually  _was_  Jenny, before a warm body slammed into hers, pushing her back against the hallway wall, lips crashing into hers. Sarah was so caught off guard she couldn’t even engage her brain enough to kiss back, even though that was all she wanted to do, before those beautiful lips left hers and Jenny was looking down at the ground.  
  
“I’m sorry. I thought… But… Never mind,” Jenny mumbled as she turned to leave.  
  
Sarah’s brain struggled to keep up in the face of such overwhelming shock and desire. Jenny thought that she didn’t want to… But she did. She really,  _really_ , did. Sarah tried to say this, but all that came out was a sort of high pitched squeak, which at least made Jenny stop and turn to face her again. Sarah quickly stepped forward and cupped Jenny’s face in her hands as she leaned in to kiss her, hoping that a kiss would convey what she couldn’t seem to verbalise at the moment. When Sarah felt Jenny’s hands on her hips, pushing her back towards the wall again, Sarah knew the message had been received.  
  
Jenny pulled back and looked at Sarah, her eyes darker than Sarah had ever seen them before. Sarah felt like she should say something, to explain herself, to ask for an explanation, or perhaps both. She opened her mouth to say something but never got the chance to make a sound as Jenny captured her lips once again in a searing kiss and Sarah decided that talking was overrated anyway.  
  
Sarah gasped as she felt Jenny’s tongue run along her bottom lip, and Jenny used the opportunity to explore Sarah’s mouth, their tongues moving together. Jenny tasted of red wine and spice, rich and tempting.  
  
“Bed. Now.”  
  
Sarah wasn’t entirely sure if it was her or Jenny who had said it, but the breathless commanding tone didn’t invite much argument either way. Sarah pushed her body against Jenny’s, steering them back along the hall towards her bedroom, slipping her hands under Jenny’s shirt in the process, desperate for the feel of skin under her fingers.   
  
Several broken picture frames and a trail of discarded clothing later, they had made it halfway down the hall.   
  
But Sarah couldn’t wait to reach the bedroom, she wanted Jenny now. Sarah pushed Jenny back against the wall, in what seemed to be fast becoming a habit of theirs, her hands roaming over Jenny’s body, exploring every curve.   
  
“Please, Sarah”  
  
The words sent shivers down Sarah's spine, and she didn’t need any more encouragement, slipping her hand between Jenny’s thighs, her fingers teasing at Jenny’s entrance before slipping inside her slick, wet heat.  
  
Jenny began bucking her hips as Sarah increased the pace of her fingers, and Sarah swallowed each of Jenny’s moans and gasps with a kiss.  
  
But it wasn’t enough, Sarah wanted more. She knelt down, trailing kisses along Jenny’s torso until she reached her destination.  
  
Sarah felt Jenny’s thighs begin to tremble as she licked and sucked and knew that she was close. Sarah flicked her tongue one last time over Jenny’s clit and Jenny came, screaming Sarah’s name and sliding down the wall, her legs no longer able to hold her up.  
  
Sarah sat back to admire the vision before her. Jenny’s eyes were closed, her body glistening with sweat, legs spread, her chest heaving as she panted. And it was all for Sarah, all  _because_  of Sarah. None of her wildest fantasies could ever compare to the reality of the goddess in front of her.  
  
Sarah didn’t know how long they stayed like that, it could have been seconds, could have been hours, she didn’t care. But when Jenny opened her eyes the look she gave Sarah sent jolts of electricity straight down between her legs.  
  
“So you do  _have_  a bed, don’t you? Could we perhaps use it now?” 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The early morning sunlight shone through a gap in the curtains, hitting Sarah in the face, waking her up. She really needed to get better curtains, she thought groggily. But as the sunlight danced across the sleeping Jenny’s creamy skin, setting her auburn hair alight with colour, Sarah was suddenly grateful for the gap in her curtains that woke her up every morning. Sarah stroked the fiery hair of the head resting on her chest, unable to keep a smile from her face. As she did so Jenny sighed and snuggled closer to her, making Sarah smile even more.

“I don’t want to get up,” Jenny mumbled into Sarah’s chest.  
  
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you. Well, today’s Saturday… So we don’t have to get up at all…”  
  
“I like the sou…” Jenny’s sentence was interrupted by a loud growling from her stomach, making her blush.  
  
Sarah laughed. “How about I get up and bring some breakfast back to bed? That way you don’t have to get up at all.”  
  
“I could certainly get used to that,” Jenny said, grinning.  
  
Sarah simply raised an eyebrow as she got out of bed. Hyper aware of Jenny’s eyes on her naked behind as she left the room, she couldn’t resist swaying her hips a little as she walked.  
  
When she returned to the bedroom with a tray loaded as best she could manage from her pitifully stocked kitchen, she found Jenny up and looking through her photos and other items around the room.  
  
“I thought you didn’t want to get up?” she teased, setting the tray down on the bed and climbing back under the covers to try to warm herself back up after her trip to the kitchen.  
  
“Well, the reason I want to stay in bed got up, so…” Jenny teased back as she slipped back under the covers as well, snuggling up against Sarah once more.  
  
Sarah immediately forgot all about breakfast. Turning all her attention to Jenny she kissed her deeply, tangling her fingers in her hair.  
  
Their kiss was interrupted by a crash as the breakfast tray was knocked on to the floor. Sarah sighed.  
  
“Are you trying to destroy my house? First my hallway, now my bedroom. You don’t have a wrecking ball out front do you?” she said, narrowing her eyes.  
  
Jenny laughed and kissed Sarah again.  
  
“You know I’m worth it.”  
  
And as Jenny’s hand slid between her legs Sarah had to admit to herself that yes, Jenny really was worth it.


End file.
